Ranger Gord



Ranger Gord (Peter Keleghan) is a forest ranger who spends almost all of his time in his fire watchtower. While he firmly believes that he is working hard and sacrificing his life to protect the citizens of Possum Lake, in reality he has never once received a paycheck for his work. He is well aware of this fact, but he persists in his job anyway, believing that Smokey the Bear was talking specifically to him when he said "Only you can prevent forest fires." This initial event in his career caused him to skip going to medical school, a decision which Red points out may have in fact saved quite a few lives.

Whether by a sense of obligation or the kindness of his heart, Red frequently visits Gord at his watchtower to check up on him. It is through these segments that much of Gord's bizarre personality is revealed. For example, in the many years he's spent alone there, Gord has been struck by lightning multiple times and has gone pretty much insane (though there's probably little connection between these two events). He is prone to unpredictable and extreme mood swings, and he has an extreme need for attention and companionship in the watchtower, to the point that he has invented quite a few imaginary friends and attempts to hibernate during the winter. Gord also alternates between having a primal and somewhat unsettling interest in women and acting as though he has never seen one before. Despite all of this, he usually refuses to leave the tower when Red offers to let him stay at the Lodge for a little while.

Starting in the, Ranger Gord produces a series of educational safety cartoons, in which he portrays himself as a muscle-bound super-hero type and Red and Harold as a possum and beaver, respectively. Each film, which he produces, directs, animates and voices entirely on his own, further strokes his already enormous ego.


 * Debut:
 * Final episode:
 * Complete Filmography

Key Segments

 * Ranger Gord's Educational Films

Production Notes
In the first two seasons of the show, the watchtower segments were filmed in a simple set resembling a tree house. From 1993 to 1996, the segment was shot at a real fire watchtower in Port Carling, Ontario. In the 1997 and 1998 seasons, Ranger Gord appeared in Possum Lodge, saying that he had eaten the front two legs of his tower and caused it to collapse. From 1999 on, the watchtower segments were filmed in-studio with a live audience (previous segments had to be pre-recorded and the audience's reactions added later).